Chapter 9.7
One of the many things I never wanted to experience was to suffer from the aftereffects from a close, nuke like explosion.
But fate was a bitch and made me experience it anyway.
I had the feeling fate was going to make me experience a lot of stuff.
How did it feel like?
My head hurt more than ever before, maybe only exceeded by hell itself. It was ringing, it was pounding and my vision was hazy as hell. I wasn't even sure where up or down was.
I was also sure I was lying flat on my face, futilely trying to get up.
Well, at least I covered Chrome's ears as I leaned over her, using my own body as protection. Wasn't sure if my hands were still on her ears, but I think I was staring towards the sky.
I assumed it was the sky. It was blue, from what I could tell from by my blurry vision.
However, this blue got invaded by some weird...purple and green.
I...I think that was Chrome?
Something black moves in the middle of the whitish area above the green and below the purple and some weird noise came out, probably words.
"Wha...?" I slurred out, but slowly and surely, the weird purple and greenish glob got some form.
Blinking wildly, I shook my head when I started to recognize where my limbs were and remembered how to use them. Pushing me upwards, I found out two things.
One, I was lying on my back. Two, I did not have my full body control back, so I fell back on my head.
Thankfully, something slowed down the fall. It felt like a hand or something.
I decided to just lie around until my brain was not having a rave party in my skull and relax for a while.
Not sure how much time went by, but it couldn't be that long, since nobody said anything.
Considering what just happened, that was odd. Perhaps they waited for me to recover.
Well, lucky them, because I now was confident enough to move on my own. A bit, at least. Opening my eyes, I saw the concern written on Chrome's face.
Then I realized my head was on her lap.
…
Not seeing the super appeal in it like all the romances like to shout out.
Raising my head, she backed off a little, before I raised myself, pushing my back against the wall of the trench.
"Is he alright?" I heard Il-Tae ask and Chrome leaned towards me, staring me in my tired eyes.
"His eyes seem okay," she muttered. Then, she raised her right hand with a frown. "How many fingers?"
"Two," I said without missing a beat and shook my head again before letting out a breath.
Wow, comparing my headspace to now and before, it was like heaven.
"And that answers the question about his ear drums as well," Gung-Hyun said with subdued cheer. Looking around in the hole Tae-Jin made, I saw that including the martial master, only seven people were present.
Myself, Chrome, Duk-Bae, Gung-Hyun, Il-Tae, Tae-Jin and the guy with the mask.
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head and leaned back against the wall, my face directed towards the sky with a tired expression.
Damn. I felt a bit bad about all the other soldiers.
Still, there wasn't much I could have done to prevent this while still ensuring my own survival.
No hard feelings, soldiers.
Shaking off the thoughts, I refocused on the others, who sat in a rough circle in the trench, with Tae-Jin right in front of me.
Said leader let out a sigh.
"Alright, status of everyone here present seem stable." The old man glared at the big man who pulled him down from the explosion and crossed his arms. "I could have taken it."
"Didn't want to risk it, sir. Apologies," Duk-Bae replied with a lowered head, but didn't look sorry at all.
Tae-Jin probably realized that as well and scratched his neck in irritation. Still, he moved on and glanced over the wall behind him to take a look at the situation.
"Yeah, sure is one nuke. Damn monkey..." Taking his eyes away form the kneeling fur, he sent Chrome and I a skeptical look. "Did you know about this?"
"Our leaders didn't tell us that, no," Chrome replied, sitting to my right, but she still seemed a bit...spooked by what happened. Nevertheless, she managed to uphold her illusion of being a professional rather well.
Or so I thought.
"Do you even have leaders?" Tae-Jin asked with a small growl, eyes narrowed. His soldiers stared at him in confusion, but I focused on the girl next to me instead.
She shrunk down considerably, letting out a small "meep". I clicked my tongue.
She was at her social limit.
Letting out a sigh, I raised my arm in front of her and bowed my head slightly at the leader.
"It's a long story and when this is done, we come clean. I promise."
I felt the sweat run down my forehead as Tae-Jin judged me and my friend, who also bowed.
With bated breath, we endured the awkward pressure.
"Corporal, what are you doing?"
Just for the old man to change topics with a casual tone.
Suffice to say, the two of us snapped our heads upwards with disbelief.
Indeed, Tae-Jin looked away from us, instead staring at Il-Tae, who was writing a letter currently. Noticing everyone's stares, he blushed slightly, yet he straightened his back.
"Just writing to my family, sir!" He exclaimed.
Naturally, his colleagues gaped at him, just like the two illusionists gaped at Tae-Jin for brushing our matter off.
"Il-Tae, we are in the middle of enemy territory!" Gung-Hyun yelled and slapped him on the head. The victim took it like a man and simply bowed his head.
"Apologies, sir!"
However, he did not notice how his letter escaped his hands because of his superior's action and landed nicely on the ground.
Like vultures, we all leaned over it. Of course, neither Chrome or I could read it.
Thankfully, Il-Tae was nice enough to provide illustrations.
Illustrations of the fighting style he was developing, that is.
"Nice illustrations," Chrome said in a soft voice, voicing out my opinion as well. The mask guy then pointed at a certain drawing.
"That's the super kick the boss did, isn't it?"
I narrowed my eyes.
Huh. Indeed it was. It even had some lines showcasing the force it had.
Obviously, Il-Tae spluttered at his secret being found. Followed by being at Tae-Jin's mercy, who subjected the Corporal to a headlock with a rather displeased expression.
"Heeeeh? Plagiarism, Corporal? Shameful. Shameful indeed." Then, the old man raised his eyebrow at taking a closer look at the letter. "Hm? You wanna include Renewal Taekwondo to make up for the weakness in Practical Taekkyeon?"
Everyone in the round hummed in interest.
It was for a good reason.
From what I remembered, Practical Taekkyeon was an old Korean martial art that used a lot of kicks, but also focused on locks and full body usage.
I didn't know what the weaknesses of the martial art were, but I assumed that Renewal Taekwondo would give it more power and versatility in leg techniques, like leg hooks and the like.
However, I was not so sure about it. I wasn't a martial artist expert.
Still, judging how the expert read through the notes without permission and whistled in amazement, it had to be a very insightful.
I didn't doubt that Il-Tae's new system would be world shattering, considering what his grandson accomplished in the story.
At Chrome's question marks over her head, I raised my hand in front of me in a chop form.
Later, I tried to message to her. Seeing her nod, I think she received it.
"Hey, those ideas are pretty good!" Duk-Bae complimented Il-Tae after giving him the letter back. As the rest of the squad nodded in approval, Il-Tae scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
"Uhm, thank you, sirs!"
His smile however quickly got replaced by an expression of suffering when Tae-Jin increased his grip on the poor man.
"You still need my permission, you brat!" He yelled in a grumpy tone and his subordinate apologized without end.
We all laughed for a little, but when my aura sense tingled again, I let out a groan.
The soldiers noticed it, while Chrome heaved a sigh.
"Let me guess. Monkey. Round two then." At my nod, Tae-Jin cracked his neck and jumped out of the cover. But not before pointing at us. "You just stay here. And don't forget the promise."
With that said, he ran towards the monkey, who roared in defiance.
Alright, he didn't just brush us off. Good to know?
Anyway, while the soldiers were content in hugging their knees while shockwaves occurred left and right behind them, I turned my attention to the other thing that I sensed.
Or rather, other person.
The traitor, Sergeant Choi, also known as baby face, was busy digging his way up.
And I was sure he did not intend to flee.
My eyes narrowed.
Why was he still here? His mission was clearly a...failure...
...
I totally forgot about the monkey king baby inside the green crystal.
The green crystal the Americans couldn't dug out because Chrome and I cockblocked them long enough for the real monster to arrive.
…
Well, okay then. Still manageable.
The moment I thought so, the agent blasted of from the ground and dusted himself off.
The South Korean squad immediately put up their guard, while I made sure that Chrome was behind me with a glare.
Same stupid armor as the special squad, only his visor thing had two yellow ovals in the same vertical line, with some yellow stripes directed at the upper, bigger one, like sunrays.
By all means, this guy was lethal. With his wires, technology and martial skill, he could take out Gung-Hyun, one of the twins with the brown, gelled hair and Il-Tae.
Logic said I should not taunt him.
However, logic forgot that I hated guys like him and I needed to fulfill my quota of shit talk.
Yes, I made that quota up.
The bullshit thrown around made me feel small and I needed that.
"So, how are you doing, Sergeant Choi?" I asked loudly with a fake smirk.
This made everyone to snap their heads at me in shock.
"What?!" Gung-Hyun yelled in anger and looked like he was ready to punch me.
Quickly, I pointed at the traitor with a little bit of panic.
"Yeah. Same aura." Then, I put my grin back up and threw my thump over my shoulder as I stared at him "Your objective is buried behind us, isn't it?"
For a moment, Choi stared at me in silence. Then, he grinned and clapped his hands.
"Ho, you know a lot for a shitty brat!" He yelled cheerfully. His voice made the other soldiers widen their eyes in shock, but I shook my head in fake casualness.
"I know a lot of things, you USA freak." Crossing my arms, I raised an eyebrow, voice growing mocking. "Need some fancy tech to save your ass, hm? Like that laser thing in your chest?"
Choi gasped momentarily and Il-Tae glanced at me in confusion.
"How do you-"
I cut him off with a hiss.
"Doesn't matter, just kick his ass before he-"
The traitor began to gesture with his hands.
I saw a light glint.
Thanks to the fact that I knew about his wires and that my body was ready, I managed to duck away with a jump to the left.
I felt some of my hair being cut away, so that was some sharp wire.
Rolling over the ground, I let out a heavy breath and took in the situation.
Il-Tae and Gung-Hyun managed to dug under the wire attack and dashed towards their former ally, dodging the attacks against them at the same time.
Chrome was in the arms of Duk-Bae and the girl looked horrified by something, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
I raised an eyebrow. The rest of the force had some anger and sadness mixed into their expression, but why was-
Oh.
I saw the head of the masked guy rolling away from the dead body.
Judging from the way it was lying on the ground, I assumed that he managed to push Chrome away into the giant's arms, since she had not the reflexes to dodge.
I grit my teeth in anger.
I didn't even know his damn name!
Taking a deep breath, I mentally thanked to soldier, before surveying the situation.
The two soldiers managed to reach Choi, but they couldn't get any solid hits on, as he used his wire as crowd control. Also, the two of them were wary of my warning, since they kept a close eye on the traitor's chest.
Meanwhile, Duk-Bae reached my side with Chrome in his arms. The girl looked at me with a determined expression.
"Shouldn't we vanish?"
Before I could reply, the giant man dashed towards me, my companion held under his left arm. Swiftly putting me under his right arm, he covered us as wires dug into his skin. He grit his teeth, but he managed to dodge away before they could do any more damage.
"Thanks," I said in relief, but also in shame. Duk-Bae smiled at me warmly, despite the strain on his body.
"No problem."
Then, we all focused back to Choi and his opponents.
Damn, the traitor was good, able to throw an attack at me despite being pressured.
Clicking my tongue, I took a deep breath.
The I yelled at Il-Tae with all my might, across the several meters we were afar.
"Corporal, now might be a great time to use your new stuff!"
For a moment, he seemed confused as he dodged the wires. Then his eyes widened and he nodded determined, before saying something to his sergeant. The latter seemed irritated, but rolled his eyes, before yelling something in Korean as well.
I raised an eyebrow. But I couldn't say more, because just as Gung-Hyun fought Choi alone, while Il-Tae took the time to take his shoes off, Duk-Bae ran the opposite direction of the battle with the two illusionists in tow.
"What did he say?" I asked as I hung around like a sack of potatoes.
"He said to take cover out of range," he muttered, but then had to stop himself after some meters.
For good reason, since we saw the monkey.
Only, we gaped in shock, three times bigger than before.
And it was busy stomping on Tae-Jin.
Duk-Bae could not have noped out more than that, as he ran into the direction that was in neither of the battles, speak down in a sense.
Or up, I had no idea.
As we were carried, I looked at Chrome, who blinked at the gigantic creature. She turned to me when I raised my voice over all the chaos.
"Anyway, the guy was too fast, I couldn't focus! Now wouldn't work, because we are too far away and these guys are too fast! Friendly fire is also the issue!" I let out a dry chuckle and lowered my gaze. "Besides, I'm not sure if my juice still works. Or my focus."
Considering that Chrome did not object, she came to the same conclusion.
After we were far enough away (a block or so, maybe), Duk-Bae let us down and began treating his own wounds.
Chrome and I would have helped, but we were more focused on the events in front of us.
The martial fight on the left.
Il-Tae tagged out with Gung-Hyun, who seemed to suffer from a strong found on his left arm. Still, he managed to destroy the traitor's helmet with a knee attack.
Better than losing the arm like in canon.
Anyway, Il-Tae stuck close to the enemy, easily dodging the attacks of his opponent, now that he could use his full potential.
A sideway knee to the enemy's stomach.
Swaying away from a wire attack, using the momentum to spin horizontal to the ground and smash his left heel on top of the traitor's head.
Quickly landing, left foot in the back and ducking under the palm stab, jamming his right elbow into the armored stomach.
When a wild left swing was aimed after him, Il-Tae ducked under it, spun around and jumped at the same time, before hitting the head of Choi with his left leg again, this time with the front.
Irritation was visible on the traitor's face, who couldn't help but block the barrage of fists the Corporal threw in a cross motion.
Mimicking the motion, Choi threw his wires out, but Il-Tae only ducked under it, ready to dash forward with a counter punch.
However, the traitor grinned widely and I saw how his blue chest piece began to glow up.
This would be the part where Il-Tae would be shot, with no chance to survive.
If he were alone that was.
The beam got fired, but only grazed Il-Tae's right arm.
All because a simple stone was thrown with great force against Choi's right shoulder, diverting the direction.
Guess Gung-Hyun was not out of commission just yet, despite the bleeding.
Anyway, Il-Tae managed to bury his fist into his enemy's stomach.
After moving back a few inches and spitting out some blood, the traitor snarled and threw his leg up for a front kick.
But Il-Tae only waited for it, as he firmly planted his left foot on his opponents knee.
Only despair was on the enemy's face, before the Corporal shot his leg towards his own back, towards the sky, setting the traitor on fire, scorching him immediately.
With that done, Il-Tae fell down on his butt, clearly out of breath, but content nonetheless.
At the same time, I witnessed the natural disaster on the right.
It was less complicated, but even more breathtaking.
Tae-Jin managed to keep the giant foot from smashing him by holding it up with his own two feet.
But no, that was not enough for the monster.
He had to push the giant monkey away, making it lose its balance and wall on its back.
Though it swiftly jumped back up, Tae-Jin was already on the move, running against the fur.
Both reared back with their right leg and kicked forward.
The legs met as Tae-Jin jumped and a great shockblast reached even us.
For a moment, it seemed like they were frozen in the air.
Then, cracks appeared on the monkey's leg, before the martial master cut through it, removing the limp from the fur. As the giant monkey fell to the ground and created a big dust cloud, Tae-Jin comically held his leg, hissing in minor pain.
But it wasn't finished yet.
The monkey, back to its normal size, was on all four, mouth wide open as it focused a powerful energy in it.
A sane person would run.
A powerful monster would face it head on.
Naturally, Tae-Jin reared his right leg back, just as he did against the American soldiers.
And both threw their attacks at each other.
Divine energy blast by the fur of the monkey king, versus a roundhouse kick of the strongest human that was alive in this universe.
The two forces met.
And to call it a nuke was appropriate.
This time, I covered my ears and eyes from the bright light.
It took some while, but the two figures resurfaced from the destruction they created.
Both walked towards each other, clearly exhausted.
Tae-Jin threw a sloppy punch.
The monkey reatalitated with a sloppy uppercut.
Tae-Jin attacked with a straight punch, then swung his right leg around, so that his back was directed at the monkey.
Sensing the incoming kick, the monkey raised its arms as a guard.
But no attack came.
A hook instead, arrived. Cleanly slipping his right leg inbetween the monkey and his guards, Tae-Jin calmly lowered the defense of the monkey.
Then he showcased that he still had some juice left.
Three kicks
It was almost simultaneous, executed was enough to make it look like it happened in an instance.
A kick from the left with the right heel.
A kick from the right with the left heel.
And as a finisher, a kick from behind, with the top of his foot.
Third Stance, Hwechook.
Calmly walking behind the monkey, Tae-Jin began to move away, as the monkey was frozen in place.
Then, the world realized the action and delivered the results.
The monkey's head was flung to the right, then to the left, before at last, it got smashed forwards.
As if to demonstrate to god, the force of the last kick destroyed the ground in front of the monkey in a sector shape.
A ridiculously gigantic sector shape.
As I witnessed these two fights, though I focused more on the left than on the right, my fists were curled up in anger.
Both sides hammered own thing into my head.
Useless.
I felt useless. Weak.
My accomplishment of having the initiative at the beginning of my stay in this world, the ability to kill a martial artist…
It was a childish thing to believe I was strong. Only my illusions made me cheat.
It didn't change the fact I was weak.
Judging from how Chrome clenched her trident until her knuckles gained an unhealthy color as she observed the battles, she must have felt the same.
I let out a sigh, trying to relax.
I had a lot to learn before I could be considered strong.
